Voice Communications in Remote Construction

The construction and maintenance of pipelines, railroads, mining and other infrastructure often requires contractors to set up temporary worksites that are very isolated, sometimes thousands of kilometres away from the nearest city.

A fundamental element of productivity, safety and morale is high quality and reliable voice communication connecting sites with the outside world, personnel with each other and personnel with their families. Adding complexity to the communication challenge is each site’s unique requirements, their temporary nature and the need to be cautious about investment in infrastructure.

Solution

Nixon Communications, a part of MST, provides over 37 years of expertise in turnkey communications, offering solutions that have little or no capital outlay.

The System

The communication system is ideal for construction work, using either single repeater or multiple repeaters for pipeline, roadway or general construction where continuous communication may be required for up to 1000km.

Each repeater site can be operational in less than 3 hours. The system consists of:

Transportable repeater stations

Self-contained, solar powered trailer units

Tower sections assembled on site

Project management of deployment

Communications Huts where other services (internet, video, etc) are required.

Used with a choice of radios from the likes of Motorola, Tait, Kenwood, Icom, etc

Survey and Design

To deploy the system, the site alignment is required and topographic data determined from surveyors. This is typically estimated for the initial system design and then an on-site survey is performed to optimise the design and select the best “high-points” along the easement. A radio coverage map is then calculated and presented for approval, showing the range of the system for both portable and mobile radios.

MST uses high quality Tait repeaters, which have a proven track record of high performance on a 100% duty cycle. These systems will give the reliability that is needed to ensure seamless communications through the life of the project.

Deployment

Key to the MST approach is the ability to mobilize to site with an SUV, rather than articulated vehicles or cranes. This facilitates access to difficult sites that would be difficult and/or very expensive otherwise.

The unique MST towers are 30m high, and are collapsible into 10 x 3m sections, allowing easy transport. Once at site, these towers are quick to construct, and can be erected with two men and an SUV within hours.